RIM demonstrated its upcoming tablet device, now known as the PlayBook, at the DevCon 2010 conference today.  Anticipation around the tablet built up last week, with rising speculation around the specifics of RIM’s answer to the iPad and subsequent Android tablets.

While RIM answered the major questions regarding the PlayBook, a number of the specs have been revealed.

-The hardware measures 5.1-by-7.6-by-0.4 inches, and weighs less than a pound.
-The touch screen measures 7-inches.
-It has a 1 GHz dual-core processor with symmetrical multiprocessing capabilities, and 1 GB of RAM
-HD cameras are on the front (3 megapixels) and rear (5 megapixels) of the device, and 1080p video recording is supported.
-There is microUSB support and microHDMI output.
-Wi-Fi is 802.11 a/b/g/n, and there’s Bluetooth 2.1

What’s missing so far is the cellular connectivity on its own, relying on the BlackBerry handset a user would assuredly already have.  The PlayBook’s operating system is powered by QNX, a company RIM acquired several months ago.  This is a curious departure for RIM, which launched a new OS for its BlackBerry handsets over the summer.  It also hints of a tactic HP abandoned with its Palm acquisition, opting to start from scratch with the Android OS instead.

Despite some shortcomings and a relatively sparse app market on its smartphones, Amazon has already pledged early allegiance to the PlayBook, announcing plans for a Kindle app to run on the RIM tablet.  Amazon has been quick to launch mobile apps early on, and recently updated its Kindle e-reader app for the iPhone and Android.

So then, we see further fragmentation of the mobile app marketplace, with various branches and channels of distribution, each with their own revenue shares and pricing models.  Tablets in particular are gaining in task-specific segments, and the PlayBook is certain to be designed around business use. This affects the mobile advertising industry as well, carving new opportunities and requirements for monetization and standardization of cross-platform offerings.